Experts disagree on whether Dallas officer could be credible

16 September 2018

The local Fox television affiliate, KDFW, was roundly criticized for its initial reporting on the release of the report on the search's findings, drawing scorn from figures across the political spectrum for focusing on the marijuana, tweeting: 'DEVELOPING: Search warrant: Marijuana found in Botham Jean's apartment after deadly shooting'.

This photo from video released on Thursday by the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office in Kaufman, Texas, shows Dallas police officer Amber Guyger getting booked after turning herself in on September 9 following the fatal shooting of Botham Jean in his own apartment.

As did tweets spread by the internet lynch mob...release of details about items found in Botham's apartment on the same day as his funeral, and the suggestion by some in the media that had Botham had his own gun and used it, he might be alive today.

In a written statement to The Dallas Morning News, Guyger's sister, Alana Guyger, called her "caring, loving and compassionate". Now lawyers for Jean's family are accusing police of trying to smear a dead man.

The underlying affidavit outlining probable cause for the warrant was sealed by state District Judge Brandon Birmingham.

Lee Merritt, a Dallas-based civil rights attorney who is representing Jean's family, says two independent witness have come forward offering accounts that contradict Guyger's. The discovery of pot in Jean's home is "completely irrelevant", he points out to KXAS. In May of 2017, Guyger fired her weapon at a drug offender who engaged in a physical altercation with police and took an officer's Taser.

He also says they may have included "narcotics" in the search warrant because someone may have already seen it out in the open in the apartment.

Jean was being presented to the public as a university graduate on the partnership track at a prestigious firm who sang in the choir, Merritt said. I want to find out whether her apartment has been searched, whether her auto has been searched, and also on the Saturday when we spoke to the Texas Ranger he was saying that there was no reason in his mind that she ought to have been locked up. "My son's life matters".